All posts in 5.11 Tactical

Tactical pants that keep you dry

If you are looking for something that keep your dry and gives you moisture resistance, you’ll probable want to try out the 5.11 taclite pro pants, Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants or the Tru Spec 24/7 pants.  There are plenty of other options out there, but for those shopping online that don’t want to have to go through a fiasco to find a stocking dealer in the Country where you can stop by and try something out, those are probable your best options.   We sell a lot of tactical clothing to people that are hunters and recently sold several pairs of Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants to some guys heading out for hunting season.  They liked the Blackhawk pants because they gave a level of moisture resistance but not rain gear.

For someone that knows what its like to wear tactical pants in warm climates, you know that it’s still going to be hot wearing pants, but you still may need some protection from bugs, sun or shrubs and sticks.  Our newest product line are the Tru spec tactical pants and they are also a poly cotton ripstop material.  The Tru Spec 24/7 pants our Atlanco’s number one selling tactical pant and from what we are seeing their claims of being tru to sizing is accurate.  The pocket designs on these pants are very unique compared to Woolrich, 5.11 and Blackhawk.  Some of those tactical pants are hard to tell the difference between because the pocket designs are so similar.

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Whatever it is you want from your clothing, you can probable get now

I still hear the complaining from people that have been wearing 5.11 tactical clothing and just don’t want to wear it anymore because they are tired of the spotting quality control and the sizing and shrinkage issues.   It’s kind of funny that the last of the Eotac apparel had shrinkage issues and many compared it to the issues with 5.11 but that was because the guys at Eotac had trouble with quality control at the factory in China.   It’s amazing to hear the feedback from customers about the changes they wish woule take place with tactical clothing, just minor tweaks of pockets or fit would make a lot of the stuff out there to be perfect.

There are still tactical clothing products coming on the market but most of them are either poorly made or ridiculously expensive.   Most of our tactical pants customers have told us that they really don’t like to spend more than $40 a pair because most people really need atleast 3 pairs of pants and just a few bucks less on clothing means something.   Considering how much clothing is out there now,  you’re probable atleast going to find the style or fit you want, but you might have to pay for it.   We’ve watched Vertx grow but their product line still has some production issue which makes us want to sit it out for awhile.

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Summer options for lightweight clothing

It’s been a very mild Winter this year and hitting 70 degrees in March is a good sign that Winter is over.   About 19 years ago we had one of the biggest snow storms that has ever hit Pennsylvania and it’s nice that we’ve pretty past the period where snow storms usually hit.   Lots of winter clothing is going to be packed up and put in a closet soon because in these parts of the Country we can get all 4 seasons and Summers can be pretty hard for Law Enforcement because lightweight clothing is hard to find.   Everyone knows that a t-shirt is about as light as you can get but there are some tactical shirt options out there.

The Woolrich Elite lightweight tactical shirts in style 44914 are very popular with our Military Contractors because they need the lightweight material and still need sun protection.   The next biggest sellers are the tactical pants that are 100% cotton ripstop also and are the lightest tactical pants we sell.  The Woolrich Elite style 44441 pants and style 44447 pants have very different pocket designs, but we’ll see how well the Tru-Spec tactical pants compete with them this year.  The 5.11 tac lite pro pants are also a new product and we’ll watching our customer feedback.

 

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Big News about upcoming Promo from TruSpec

Rumor has it that Tru-Spec has something big in the works in the next couple months and those looking to find something in the tactical clothing market for a good price.  I think it’s smart for clothing companies to get smart and work with dealers to promote their products.   We’ve sold millions of dollars of gun accessories and tactical apparel in the last couple years and it’s rare for us to hear from a company about marketing to advertising promos that actually help us.   Things like pants, boots, gloves and shirts all wear or fade over time and need to be replaced.  Sometimes different changes in weather mean changing our clothings.

Everyone know what 5.11 pants are and everyone and their dog wore them at one point, but 80% of our customer base are disgrunted 5.11 clothing customers looking for something else.  5.11 has the EMS and Uniform business by the balls but keep any eye out on Tru-Spec.  TruSpec tactical pants have a very good fit and have a similar poly cotton ripstop design but does not shrink like the 5.11 stuff.  Now that Gunny has signed on to be the official Spokesperson for their product line I’d call that stability.   There tactical and EMS line is growing and expanding and we are looking forward to working with Tru-Spec in 2012

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Not a big fan of everything in the tactical clothing world

I have yet to find a shirt that is considered to be tactical that actually fits me right.  I’ve worn plenty of them while teaching handgun courses but there were either sizing issues with them or there were functionality issues.   I never like the idea of having velcro on the pockets and the button down versions just seemed far more professional looking.   Some of the early Woolrich Elite products really were a knock off of what 5.11 had, but the quality and slight design improvements were a big, big deal.

Tru-Spec tactical clothing is very much becoming my favorite and its’ mostly because the fit is probable the best for me.  I will not go out and say that everything else in the tactical clothing world sucks because so much of this is about preference.   Tactical pants, tactical shirts and tactical vests all  have different purpose and sometimes you’ll want different clothing because of the weather.  Heck there may be a time you might want to put your guns and gear down and put on EMS pants and brush up on your first aid training.

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Concealment options, Office and Public environments

There are many modes of concealement a gun holder can use and it might do you some good to research 3 or 4 ways of carrying a firearm.   Belt through holsters are far more secure but if you use a good gun belt a clip on holster can work for you.   There are plenty of ways of messing a concealment method and having a holster fail and the last thing you ever want to do is get yourself in a situation where you have shown  your firearm in public and risk having someone call the police or risk getting fired.   Some business have laws about carrying firearms at work and others just don’t have any rules and the smart thing to do is not let anyone know.

We’ve been around the gun industry for a long time and we’ve learned that you don’t win people over to issues when  you are in their face.   Although you have your 2nd Amendment Rights and your CCW permit, wearing tactical pants and brandishing firearms isn’t the way to change peoples attitudes or win them over to  your side.  We have many business men that stop by our Store wearing a suite and tie and carry firearms for self-defense and nobody at their offices including some family members know that they carry.

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Lightweight tactical pants and standard weight

When we first got into this business we were mostly dealing with 5.11 tactical products.   5.11 tactical has pretty much held the market on tactical clothing, but now that they’ve grown so big it seems pretty obvious that there is a large customer base that became tired of the clothing company from 3 different countries and the fit was varying to much people started looking elsewhere.   Tru-Spec and Vertx are the two tactical clothing companies that have really grown some legs even in this bad economy.

Tru-Spec has beat out 5.11 on tactical clothing because the prices can be very close and you basically get a better quality product.   We’ve already noticed that returns and complaints on Tru-spec tactical pants was very low.  There are always preferences and things people would like to change that would suite them more but shrinkage and pricing is very important.  Vertx is on the higher end of the spectrum but according to what we are hearing from people, they want us to carrying the product line.

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Always a trend towards lightweight clothing

Some of the biggest sellers this year have been the new Woolrich Elite lightweight tactical shirts and the Blackhawk lightweight pants.   The reasons people want clothing like this aren’t always apparent.   We noticed that the majority of the lightweight tactical shirts we have been selling from Woolrich were the long sleeve shirts.  It seems that many of the troops or contractors in Iraq were wanted the long sleeve shirts to give them  sun protection but be 100% cotton rip stop, which is pretty much the only thing other than a t-shirt that does the job.

We’ve also noticed that Blackhawk tactical pants have gotten a lot of traction in the last year and seem to have moved into the top 3 selling tactical pants.   The reasons people want lightweight tactical pants are pretty much the same as the reasoning for long sleeve.   Bugs and vegetation can become just as much of a problem as sunburn and there are many environments were wearing shorts is absolutely not in consideration.   The Woolrich Elite lightweight pants are the lightest weight, but sometimes people want something that resists stains and does not wrinkle which gives Tru-Spec and Blackhawk the edge.

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Clothing prices and companies leaving China

We’ve all been aware that for the last few years the value of the US dollar has declined but so has the entire World economy.  Cotton prices have gone up almost 80% and even trying to get stuff made in India which is an alternative to China has been a problem.  We’ve  heard credible rumors that a certain tactical clothing company had serious production issues and basically got done in by Corporate squabbling, a bad economy and product issue in China.   We also got notice this week that Original Swat Footwear has pulled their factory out of China and no longer makes stuff there.

Tru-Spec makes all of their own clothing and has their own factory and seems to have done fairly well even in a bad economy which has made us invest in the product line.  One thing that is very important those wearing tactical pants is not only the quality, but the availability.  There are some product lines that become so scarce at certain times of the year that customer get tired of the backorders and they move on to another product line, if this happens with a new clothing company, you’ll be sure to see that it won’t gain any traction.

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Price points on pants, made in the US or made in China?

We’re still shuffling around trying to see what products we’ll be adding on to our product line for 2012 and there are plenty of things to consider.  One of the things we have always had to consider with tactical clothing is this.  Will people pay more than $50 for a pair of pants?  Most people don’t go out and buy one pair of pants unless they are looking to try them out for the first time, but for the people that have to wear the clothing 5 days a week or more, they will probable want 3 or more.  If you buy pants that cost $30 and buy 3 of them, yous spent $90, if you buy 3 pairs for $49.99 you spent $149.97 and that’s $60 dollars more.   Was it worth the buy?

If you figure that in and the cost of shipping how many gun shops will be able to sell that much clothing and make a profit.  We’ve always sold higher end products but when it comes to clothing, some people just don’t really care too much about their tactical pants and they just want cheaper clothing that doesn’t cost a lot.  After evaluating some of the product lines in 2011 we’re looking over what sold and what didn’t and looking at taking on some new product lines.  Will you pay $60 or more for tactical pants, what if they’re made in the USA?

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